2025-01-31 PPMO Meeting notes

Announcement

Shawn in program manager role

Share wins and cross functional project impacts and challenges

all

• Wins

  • Finished initial design workshops for TSS

  • Containerization, WebFarm both projects closed!

  • Fixed re-estimation on tasks when opening and closing

  • BSA backfilled for Campus Activation, enabling progress to continue, while original BSA moonlighting for FSPT

  • Finished testing work location integration with UC Path

  • First 2 QL reports in external testing, and only 1 bug reported

  • Remediation for OMCP and R2S2: first app, OneCard, analysis complete

• X functional

  • Strategic plan

  • BIA entering validation for Dev0.2 next week; there may be slower response times and freezes

• Challenges

  • Remaining time miscalc, after task reopened or estimate updated - bug w/ Atlassian

  • Campus activation: 9 event management system (EMS) databases to be replaced by single system and set of processes, and challenges in standardizing processes

  • Better way to communicate with ADIS, when developers are needed; right now, estimated start dates keep changing

    • John and Melody to get together next week

Availability for Structure Training

SPM1 Trivia

Here is a summary of the paper "Statistical Project Management — The Ontology, Part I: The Core Concepts" by Vince Kellen:

• What is SPM?: Statistical Project Management (SPM) is a simplified project management approach that eliminates many concepts considered central in dominant project management methodologies.

• Core Concepts:

  • Projects: Temporary organizational constructs used to accomplish a collection of related tasks, creating a product, service, or improved state of the business.

  • Project Status: Open, backlog, or closed, with project statistics calculated for open and backlog projects only.

  • Objects: Tangible or reasonably concrete things, such as reports, data entry interfaces, or design documents, that are consumable by users.

  • Object Types: Carefully controlled and sparse list of object types, such as "Report Object" or "Application", used for analysis.

  • Tasks: Independent, non-hierarchical, and assigned to objects and phases, with a task owner responsible for completion.

  • Task Phases: Allow analysis and subtotaling of estimates and actual time by phase.

  • Estimates: 50/50 estimates, where the estimator feels there is as much chance of going over as going under, with continuous refinement allowed.

  • Small Task Sizes: Tasks should take around 12 hours, with smaller sizes preferred.

  • Project Manager: Responsible for ensuring correctness of the project plan, delivery on time, and good communication.

  • Technical Lead: Responsible for ensuring the list of objects is correct, the task list creates or delivers objects, and estimates are reasonable.

  • Estimators: Can be project managers, technical leads, or other personnel, responsible for initial estimates and revisions.

• No Dependencies: SPM does not model dependencies, instead using measurement to control projects.

• Simplified Resource Leveling: Tasks are assigned a task owner, who ensures completion, without requiring prior modeling of effort.

• Project Milestones: Each project should have at least four milestones, with estimated start and end dates, used to communicate to clients and management.

• Project Statistics: SPM has various metrics to provide insights into project health, with daily statistics and a history of metrics to monitor changes.

• Equi-spaced Measurement: Measurement is spaced out reasonably equally across all aspects of a project, objects, tasks, milestones, and over time.

• Simplicity: SPM aims to use the least amount of method to support the maximum amount of insight.

• SPM Ontology: The minimal set of concepts is silent on many things in project management, allowing project managers to use classic techniques while preserving the SPM ontology.

Here are the trivia questions based on the bullet points:

1. What is SPM? What does SPM stand for in the context of project management? A) Statistical Project Management B) Simplified Project Management C) Strategic Project Management D) Systematic Project Management

Answer: A) Statistical Project Management

2. Core Concepts What is a project in the context of SPM? A) A permanent organizational construct B) A temporary organizational construct C) A collection of unrelated tasks D) A product or service

Answer: B) A temporary organizational construct

3. Project Status What are the three possible statuses of a project in SPM? A) Open, closed, and pending B) Open, backlog, and closed C) In progress, on hold, and completed D) New, in progress, and cancelled

Answer: B) Open, backlog, and closed

4. Objects What are objects in the context of SPM? A) Intangible things that are not consumable by users B) Tangible or reasonably concrete things that are consumable by users C) Collections of unrelated tasks D) Projects or services

Answer: B) Tangible or reasonably concrete things that are consumable by users

5. Object Types What is the purpose of object types in SPM? A) To create a complex hierarchy of objects B) To analyze and subtotal estimates and actual time by object type C) To assign tasks to objects D) To create a list of objects

Answer: B) To analyze and subtotal estimates and actual time by object type

6. Tasks What is a task in the context of SPM? A) A hierarchical and dependent activity B) An independent and non-hierarchical activity C) A collection of unrelated activities D) A project or service

Answer: B) An independent and non-hierarchical activity

7. Task Phases What is the purpose of task phases in SPM? A) To create a complex hierarchy of tasks B) To analyze and subtotal estimates and actual time by phase C) To assign tasks to objects D) To create a list of tasks

Answer: B) To analyze and subtotal estimates and actual time by phase

8. Estimates What type of estimate is used in SPM? A) Three-point estimate (optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic) B) 50/50 estimate (where the estimator feels there is as much chance of going over as going under) C) Fixed estimate (where the estimator provides a single estimate) D) Range estimate (where the estimator provides a range of estimates)

Answer: B) 50/50 estimate (where the estimator feels there is as much chance of going over as going under)

9. Small Task Sizes What is the recommended task size in SPM? A) 1-2 hours B) 12 hours C) 20-40 hours D) 1-2 days

Answer: B) 12 hours

10. Project Manager What is the primary responsibility of a project manager in SPM? A) To ensure the correctness of the project plan B) To ensure the delivery of the project on time C) To ensure good communication about the project and its health D) All of the above

Answer: D) All of the above

11. Technical Lead What is the primary responsibility of a technical lead in SPM? A) To ensure the correctness of the project plan B) To ensure the delivery of the project on time C) To ensure the list of objects is correct and the task list creates or delivers objects D) To ensure good communication about the project and its health

Answer: C) To ensure the list of objects is correct and the task list creates or delivers objects

12. Estimators Who can provide estimates in SPM? A) Only project managers B) Only technical leads C) Project managers, technical leads, and other personnel D) Only stakeholders

Answer: C) Project managers, technical leads, and other personnel

13. No Dependencies What is a key feature of SPM? A) Modeling dependencies between tasks B) Not modeling dependencies between tasks C) Creating a complex hierarchy of tasks D) Assigning tasks to objects

Answer: B) Not modeling dependencies between tasks

14. Simplified Resource Leveling How does SPM handle resource leveling? A) By carefully modeling each person's expected contribution to each task B) By assigning each task a task owner who ensures completion C) By creating a complex hierarchy of resources D) By not modeling resource leveling

Answer: B) By assigning each task a task owner who ensures completion

15. Project Milestones What is the purpose of project milestones in SPM? A) To create a complex hierarchy of tasks B) To analyze and subtotal estimates and actual time by milestone C) To assign tasks to objects D) To communicate to clients and management

Answer: D) To communicate to clients and management

16. Project Statistics What type of metrics does SPM use to provide insights into project health? A) Volatility metrics B) Performance metrics C) Progress metrics D) Quality metrics

Answer: A) Volatility metrics

17. Equi-spaced Measurement What is the concept of equi-spaced measurement in SPM? A) Measuring project behavior at irregular intervals B) Measuring project behavior at regular intervals C) Measuring project behavior at the beginning and end of the project D) Not measuring project behavior

Answer: B) Measuring project behavior at regular intervals

18. Simplicity What is a key principle of SPM? A) To use the maximum amount of method to support the minimum amount of insight B) To use the least amount of method to support the maximum amount of insight C) To create a complex hierarchy of tasks D) To assign tasks to objects

Answer: B) To use the least amount of method to support the maximum amount of insight

Object type list - needs clean up

Open projects / need PM

Internal projects

Putting the tech in technical PM

Technical Concepts

Closing projects! Should be Live

https://its-pro.ucsd.edu/issues/?filter=18409&jql=project%20%3D%20PR%20AND%20status%20%3D%20active%20and%20%20%22Project%20Type%22%20%3D%20Project%20and%20%22Project%20go%20live%20date%22%20%3C%3D%20endOfDay()

Closing projects! Should be Done

https://its-pro.ucsd.edu/issues/?filter=18409&jql=project%20%3D%20PR%20AND%20status%20%3D%20active%20and%20%20%22Project%20Type%22%20%3D%20Project%20and%20%22Project%20end%20date%22%20%3C%3D%20endOfDay()